romney is in better shape. if the weather is bad and it's real tough to get out, ron paul will win. >> to be looking at what the cloud cover will be and where the low pressure fronts are apparently in terms of who's going to win the iowa caucuses, friends. >> he's got a point. i mean, he does have a point. ron paul, obviously, has the most fervent, loyal supporters. they probably will walk through a hurricane for him. so if in fact the weather's bad to what the governor's saying a few moments ago, they probably will come out and vote for him no matter what happens. >> but there are pontifications in every major newspaper and blog today about the seven factors that could decide iowa, whether it's the weather, whether it's ron paul, whether it's rick santorum, whether it's newt gingrich and what he got calista for christmas. this race has been incredibly unsettled. and i wonder if you guys think that that's because of the candidates who are the options or whether, you know, folks haven't gotten to know them better because they're not there. >> i think it's a couple of factors. one is they're not there, they're not doing the retail campaigning they've done in previous years. this campaign has been about

debates, and it's about advertisements. it's not been about retail campaigning. i also think it's obvious that nobody has fall nen love really except for the hardcore ron paul supporters with any of these people. they've moved around from non-romney candidate to non-romney candidate. do some of them come home and support romney? possibly. possibly he wins. i think all of this unsettledness almost is indicative of the fact that this result could be discounted the minute it happens and we could move on to new hampshire and iowa could be a muddle that actually tells us not that much about who's going to win this race. >> that's a good point. it's almost as if if ron paul does win iowa becomes, you know, the ugly stepchild in this race, but if romney wins it gives iowa a sort of veneer of legitimacy. would you say that's accurate? >> i don't think iowa's irrelevant. if romney manages to win wa war, he'll sploemtum going into new hampshire. he should win big. he's winning big right now. i think it's over at that point. i think there's no viable alternative and everyone coalesces around romney. so i think iowa's very important for romney. he could wrap this thing up and stop a three or four-month

bloodletting. >> but i guess there's also something to be said for the fact, i'm just doubling back on what i said two seconds ago, but if ron paul does win or splits up the conservative vote, that could have repercussions down the line, both if there's a brokered convention but also in terms of, you know, long-term prospects for rick santorum and michele bachmann and so on and so forth. >> right. i think another piece to this is how does ron paul take the hand that he has in iowa. for example, if he wins and goes out and uses his speech that night, which we know will get more attention than almost everything else that's happened up to this point including the debates because it will be a news event that ricochets. and he goes out and does a hard negative on romney, right? and uses his bully pulpit to say this guy is not a true conservative. that in some ways can open up space for someone else. what we have seen time and time again from the republican establishment is they're not going to let ron paul be the nominee. so if he's a sacrifice candidate, that's different than whether he just sort of runs out of gas. >> but let's remember, let's remind ourselves, just because

you win iowa does not mean that you're a major republican factor in the upcoming elections. we saw that with mike huckabee obviously in 2008. >> right. >> and let's also go back to governor rendell's point, which i think is a very valid point. in in fact -- let's put it this way. if in fact ron paul wins iowa i don't think it makes a difference at the end of the day. but if in fact mitt romney does win i think it's a really big deal. two reasons. he didn't invest in that state until the last minute. two, a lot of evangelicals in iowa still very skeptical of mitt romney in terms much his lack of conservatism and also because of his faith. so if he's able to come out of iowa, he has the big momentum not only in new hampshire but also south carolina as well. >> and i think you're seeing romney push for an iowa win or a very strong showing in a more public way than you have before. and i want to play -- he's got a new -- he's spent ten days on the ground so far and is about to make his biggest push with a three-day bus tour and is delivering a speech today that he calls his "final pitch to iowa voters" and has this new ad out this morning. let's take a look at it.

>> it is a moral imperative for america to stop spending more money than we take in. it's killing jobs, and it's keeping our kids from having the bright prospects they deserve. the experience of balancing budgets is desperately needed in washington, and i will take it there. >> he looks so excited in that ad. someone has had this morning coffee. but setting that aside, what was interesting to me about this ad is it's not romney versus gingrich anymore. those talking points almost seem to be sort of punted to the side. it's romney versus obama, and it seems like he's definitely making a play for the two-man horse race. >> absolutely. >> and i think what you see in this ad is they feel like they've done their dirty work on gingrich at this point. and not alone. rick perry has done a lot of it. michele bachmann has done it. a number of people have ganged up on gingrich where he doesn't look like he's going to do particularly well in iowa. so the romney campaign clearly sees the potential for a knockout punch here. they're trying to seal the deal. if he comes in first in iowa it's a knockout punch. if he comes in a close second, it's momentum is all his, gingrich is dropping, new hampshire seals it, and you go

on to what governor rendell said, which is an early end. and the big question is i'll be interested what governor rendell thinks about this, is an early romney knockout punch a good thing for his candidacy or would he be better off to stay in the spotlight of a longer campaign with a newt gingrich or with somebody else on the right to, as hillary and obama did in 2008, keep their stories out there before people? i think it's an open question. >> and also make romney a better fighter for a general. >> exactly. >> governor rendell? >> well, i actually think in this case it would be better for governor romney to win and clear the field early. you know, he's so vulnerable to attacks from the base, from the right, that the base need not be reminded of that. what they need to do is have cheerleaders fan out into the base and say come on, this guy may not be your ideal choice but he's a whole lot better than president obama, let's coalesce, let's get busy, let's get organized. >> i think one point to piggyback on that is that the obama-clinton analogy was really

two distinct constituencies within the party. obama was registering voters. clinton obviously with a former president at her back had a lot of the party establishment. but in many ways it was a growth experience. i don't think if you look at an example of testing -- >> it would be more reductive than it would be a growth experience. >> and a lot of my conservative friends are telling me in the house that if in fact romney is the nominee they will go around him. in fact, they will be supportive of him. and the reason why is because they don't want to eat their own in the primary process. >> cannibalism not in style in 2012. predictions here. when we come back, going to extremes. we will take a look at the ron paul campaign in greater depth. that's next on "now." ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪

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ron paul may be breaking at just the right time, with the latest polls showing him leading the pack. but as he looks to iowa and beyond, many are taking another look at his history and a series of newsletters containing offensive and racist remarks. we've talked a little bit about the newsletters on the show. paul's camp has sort of denied that ron paul had any involvement in the writing of this stuff. but it is important to note that paul has the support of a number of white supremacist groups including the american free press, which sells books like "march of the titans: a history of the white race" and "the invention of jewish people." no candidate can control of course who supports them. but why hasn't paul come out and said i disavow this support? i mean, this is someone who said they may have these ideas but they're supporting me and i'm the one that counts. >> what i don't understand is how anyone can say i had nothing to do with statements that come out in a newsletter with my name on the top of it. i mean, it's the ron paul newsletter we're talking about it. whether he wrote all of it or not is not really relevant. i mean, this is under his banner.

this is associated with him. and i do think that it's pretty incredible that he hasn't come out and disavowed, you know, advocates of a race war, you know, questions about holocaust denial, all that stuff. he needs to just come out and say -- and disavow their support. and he hasn't done that. >> you know, i disagree with that. i think there's two questions here. one is what do you do with the problem? and i think his response to the problem has been woefully insufficient given the gravity of the bigotry on the table. but the second -- >> also in terms of the bigotry, this is the ron paul political report encouraged citizens to arm themselves for things like carjacking because urban youth will play whites like pianos and it goes on to say "i've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self-defense for the animals are coming." i'm sorry, continue with your point. >> no, that gives a flavor. a flavor to the -- the closer he gets to power, the less of a laughing matter it is, obviously. but the other piece and where i disagree with you is i don't know that we can read into his heart because we don't know whether he personally approved these things at the time. and i think that it's all well and good to get on our high

horse and say hey, this is wrong -- >> ari. >> but wait. ari, i can tell you this as a politician who's had a website, et cetera. if there's anything like that on my website and i hear about it, i take it down in split seconds. >> and denounce it. >> at the end of the day you are held accountable for what you put out under your name, right? >> absolutely. >> that's number one. but number two, i think the telling thing about this is two things in my mind. one, how he's not pushed back on this. maybe because this is what he believes. i hope he does not believe this, but this could be very well what he believes. that's a. b, what's also very interesting and this is an interesting correlation, i don't know if you remember this or not, but when his son was running for the united states senate his son was pontificating about states' rights, his son was pontificating about the 1964 civil rights act. so there's a correlation there that i don't know what i'm saying except there's a correlation. >> and in fact robert you've teed up our clip nicely. ron paul was on chris matthews earlier this year denying that he would have voted for the 1964 voting rights act. can you pull up that sound? >> you would have voted against that law. you wouldn't have voted for

the -- >> i wouldn't have voted against getting rid of the jim crow laws. >> oh, come on. honestly, congressman, you were not for the '64 civil rights bill. >> because of the property rights element and not because of -- >> right. >> because of property rights. >> that was offensive. that was offensive as a person of color and the reason why is because we all know what the civil rights act did in 1964. >> and it wasn't about property rights. >> but to his point it was about states' rights. and when you say states' rights that's code for a lot of things. that's code for a lot of things. >> this is what happens. you get in trouble when you have an extremist philosophy that you take to its absolute extreme in every instance. and something like the voting rights act where you're obviously addressing some serious wrongs at the state level at the federal level, it's something that was obviously necessary. and ron paul runs into this a lot where his philosophy taken to his extreme is dangerous. >> and i think -- >> but i think we're missing part of the point here, which is is his extremist philosophy on government the problem or does he in his heart hold these views? and all i'm saying is i don't

think the public evidence to date proves what's in his heart. i agree with governor rendell. you have an obligation in public life to deal with these things, and he's not dealt with them right. but that doesn't prove where his heart is. >> if we're talking about where his heart is, i think that this story bears mentioning. a former aide to paul, a senior aide, released a statement defending him, saying he's not racist or bigoted against homosexuals but this is a story of paul at the house of a gay supporter who helped organize campaign events. "paul specifically instructed me to find an excuse to excuse him to a local fast food restaurant so that he could use the bathroom. he told me very clearly that although he liked the supporter he did not wish to use hissing bathroom facilities. ron looked at me directly and with a very angry look in his eyes shouted under his breath just do what i say now." this is someone who said you can get aids through saliva, through bodily fluids, who himself is a medical doctor and has had a degree since 1968 from duke university. if you talk about a level of paranoia and a fear of the other it seems to be very much well within ron paul's heart. >> he's not in the mainstream of the united states general public opinion and views on issues. i mean, this is a fringe

candidate. and he's, you know, managed to cobble together a very odd coalition of fringe support that's going to get him a fringe win in iowa, and then he's going to go away. >> and the thing is, alex, the thing that's so damaging if you're a republican about this all is that your independent voter who's not pleased with what president obama's done is thinking that he's not going to vote for president obama and then he sees what's happened during this primary. he sees a gay soldier get booed. he sees executions get applauded. he sees ron paul emerging as the leading candidate in the first caucus. and he says, these guys are crazy, i can't vote for them. >> well, not only are they crazy, to your point, governor, they don't speak to me. this is not the values that i hold near and dear to my heart. the values that i hold near and dear to my heart is finding out where my next paycheck is going to come from, is making sure that my kid has a good quality school. those are the basic things. and when you turn on the debates, unfortunately with ron paul, you don't hear that. >> it's time to bring in steady eddie, aka rick santorum. a lot of voters are going down that list, and they see the one

guy who hasn't been sullied, whose name hasn't been dragged through the mud, who's had a very consistent conservative christian message the entire time, and it's rick santorum. and i wonder to what degree you guys think that -- you know, we talk about ron paul taking this thing away. governor, could rick santorum be the next front-runner? >> i happen to have worked with rick when i was governor and he was senator. i actually like him a lot personally. but if you think they pried into ron paul or newt gingrich's past, i mean, rick has got a plethora of things to look at, including analogizing gay sex to sex with animals. he will come off sounding not quite as crazy as ron paul but right there. >> in terms of finding a social conservative alternative to ron paul he would seem like a natural fit -- >> that's because his record hasn't been examined. >> it's because he hasn't been taken seriously. >> if you're voting on marriage, if you're voting on abortion, if you're voting on all the social issues he's talked about you don't want ron paul because he's loopy you go to santorum. >> let me tell you -- >> how about rick's performance

on terri schiavo? it it was unbelievable. >> in terms of the republican primary electorate they would be supportive of him. >> we do know he may have locked up the pheasant hunting vote on monday. we'll talk about this -- >> partridge in a pear tree. >> -- more after the break. if he's not organized enough to get his name on the ballot, is he organized enough to be president? we will talk about newt. newton leroy gingrich next on "now." an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it.

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newt gingrich did not qualify for the primary in his adopted home state of virginia. now he wants to launch a write-in campaign because as his campaign manager put it the unexpected setback was just like the attack on pearl harbor. is newt gingrich a candidate who will live in infamy? ari? >> i'll tell you, what gets me the most about this is if you read this statement from the campaign manager they likened his self-inflicted failure to get on the ballot to pearl harbor and then in the same

statement they said, but this is not catastrophic. and i just thought, if you're going to break out the pearl harbor analogy then don't minimize it. what kind of a poetic license does this campaign have? but it fits with everything we know about the gingrich campaign. there's these total ridiculous historically grand comparisons to everything because newt gingrich is like churchill. no, he's like gandhi. and then you pick up the hood of the car and you realize this thing barely runs. they also failed in ohio, but they'll have a second chance based on the local rules. you know, governor rendell used to run the dnc. these rules are well known. and all the campaigns that care have delegate trackers. they have a staff of people that track people, that track deadlines. this is 101, right? >> no question. and the importance of this is above and beyond not getting on the virginia ballot. it's the message it sends. you're a very important state senator in minnesota. >> right. >> and you're thinking of endorsing newt gingrich.

and then you see this. look, running a campaign is somewhat indicative of how you run a government. if you're organized, if you put the right people in place, if you delegate well. if you stay on top of things. it says a lot about how you'll govern. and gosh, if i'm that state senator and i hear this, i'll say, this guy's not ready to be president of the united states. >> you know, alex, here's the unfortunate truth. the unfortunate truth is i don't think newt gingrich and his folks thought they would be in the race right about now. remember, they were bleeding staff. >> only calista gingrich did apparently. >> so i think we need to put this in perspective. a, they didn't have any money to put their names to get legitimate signatures on the ballot. they did get 11,000 signatures. however, the majority of them were fraudulent. two -- and that's a big deal. don't get me wrong. that's a very big deal. two, to my original point, i don't think they realized -- they probably woke up after thanksgiving, like oh, my gosh, we've got to get on the ballot in virginia, and they clearly were scrambling. no one thought that this race was going to be as serious as it turned out to be. newt gingrich was in the race

the same exact reason why herman cain was in the race. to sell books. >> right. but why use the inflated analogy of pearl harbor -- >> i'll tell you why. >> there's no sense of culpability or responsibility. it's so apart and parcel with the way newt gingrich has performed in this entire -- >> i was a staffer during the 1990s on the republican side. newt gingrich has always thought big. he's always thought materialistically. he's always thought about us versus them. it's always about the enemy versus us. good versus bad. that's how he thinks. >> well, that's delusional, not so much -- >> the analogy would be the oklahoma city bombing if you want to make ridiculous analogies. >> whoa. >> i don't know. >> this is a self-inflicted attack. the point is this is not, oh, some -- >> the analogy should be that he was playing russian roulette and the bullet -- >> right. i think i would take issue maybe with oklahoma city in terms of -- i just think that these are incredibly momentous, very hea heavy historical moments for america, they're stains on our --

>> there was loss of life. >> and to conflate that with just your shameful lack of organization in virginia is -- >> right. there's two critical points here. the first is newt gingrich told us early on that he had reinvented the modern political campaign and how it's run. he's reinvented how to run a poor campaign that's completely unorganized and doesn't have the ability to capital ooids on momentum, which he's not done. the second thing is, you know, he's clearly not putting the ads on the air in iowa that everybody else is. look at the spending in iowa. there's $10 million worth of ads on the air in iowa, 2 million from a super pac for rick perry. 2 million from mitt romney. gingrich has something like $400,000 worth of stuff on the air. that's not the kind of campaign that really thinks it's got the momentum to last and go into a long-term fight. it's not a serious effort. >> gingrich has made it a point this entire time to say he's not going to go negative, he's not going to go negative, he's not -- i can't even say it three times fast. but at any rate, he sent oit -- his campaign sent out aechblt mail i think it was today or yesterday that said mitt the moderate-k we trust a

massachusetts moderate tone act a conservative agenda? does that count as going negative? is this the last gasp at trying to get some conservative votes -- >> he would say that's fact checking. and there's a fine line between the two. what is negative ad? a negative ad is demeaning your character, it's flat out lying, and also obviously tearing someone down while you're trying to build yourself up. what newt would probably say, knowing newt the way i know him, is well, no, that's just the truth. mr. speaker, that's not really the truth, and here are the reasons why. that's when he would go back into his whole us versus them analogy. >> the other problem is he's making this claim about romney being a moderate the same day we're reading news stories saying his health care group was hugely laudatory in its praise of the massachusetts model of health care. he said we don't support a single payer plan. but there's effusive praise for the romney solution in massachusetts coming directly from a group run by newt gingrich. >> in 2006 a newsletter by gingrich, another newsletter, maybe it wasn't affiliated with him like ron paul's were not, saying the health bill that governor romney signed into law this month has tremendous political -- sorry. tremendous potential to effect

major change in the american health system. which i'm sure newt would parse and say that's not an endorsement, that's just -- i don't know what that is. >> that's as close to aen dorisment as you're ever going to find. >> it pears mentioning the last as we tie up the 2012 race with a bow, rick perry out with a new ad calling again for a part-time congress. let's just check out that sound really fast. >> if washington's the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it? among them they've spent 63 years in congress, leaving us with debt, earmarks, and bailouts. congressmen get $174,000 a year, and you get the bill. we need a solution. >> that's the reason i have called for a part-time congress. >> even the ads are a little bit rusty at this point. what do you guys make of rick perry? is this just the end? is this just spending through the last of his campaign cash? >> well, that's a very simplistic answer to a very complex problem. the fact of the matter is that as complex as our federal government is you can't have a part-time congress. i think what we need to take a

look at is governor perry's actual record as governor. i think we need to take a look at whether or not he is capable of being the president of the puppets and 9 american people -- >> i think the american people may have taken a look and not liked what they have seen. when we come back, president obama is enjoying his hawaiian vacation, but what is next for the federal tax debate? [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. yeah, our low prices are even lower. we need to teach her how to walk. she is taking up valuable cart space. aren't you, honey? [ male announcer ] it's our biggest clearance event of the year where our prices are even lower. save money. live better. walmart. when we resolve to stop snacking and slacking. resolve to start reading and running.

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president obama's win on the payroll tax debate does not mean the fight is over. the clock is already ticking to february 29th, when congress is the president must once again decide what to do about the tax and unemployment benefits. joining the panel now is author sloan cozily, who incidentally or not so incidentally was just named one of new york observer's media power singles of the year, number 7 to be exact, on the swoon-worthy list. >> wow. >> which is a big -- there is

not a crown that goes with that. >> i don't know. i don't know what the number 7 crown would look like anyway. >> you know, not brass but perhaps copper or something. >> yeah. going for the bronze. >> going to other precious metals like gold, i'm trying to think of a way to segue back to the economy, we have a fight -- there was a lot of chatter expended on the subject of the payroll tax cut debacle. we know that we have a two-month extension. this stuff is all coming back to us on february 29th, which incidentally is leap day. and i'm sure many of us will in fact want to leap over that deadline day because if the last few weeks were any indication there is going to be another fight over this. >> yeah, it's going to get ugly again, and that's because the same disagreements exist now that did as we were debating this two-month extension. it's $100 billion basically to pay for this ten-month extension in february for the rest of the year, and there's no agreement on how to pay for that. republicans still want to freeze federal employee salaries. they still want to cut the number of weeks for unemployment benefits. democrats have said in the

senate particularly that they still want to add the surtax on millionaires to pay for it. so there's no indication that there's been any thawing of the two sides' position on this. i think the only difference that there could be is that republicans took such a beating in public opinion on it that they may not want to go back to the woodshed again and get beaten up again. so you could see them dial back their opposition a little, but i don't know -- >> or maybe they'll be emboldened by eggnog and the time off. let's also keep in mind that gallup's daily tracker today has president obama's approval ratings up for the first time since july, with more people viewing him favorably. i think at 47%. disapproval is at 45%. this has played well for the white house. can obama keep this momentum going throughout 2012? is there enough positive goodwill out there to sustain a white house on wings? >> well, if he continues to go back to his base on different other issues. i mean, i think he's starting to become a little more proactive on social issues, a little bit less like a pushover on them in terms of the pipeline, in terms

of going back with the don't ask, don't tell and rescinding on that and saying please, just stop calling me a soernl exist i' socialist and i'll do what you want basically. >> to your point he's hitting them hard on a populist message of this is a party of millionaires versus the party of the working class. let's talk a little bit about this quaint comment from the "toronto sun." a columnist wrote last week, speaking to the united states collectively, "you used to be such a nice, smart country. but these days, and we say this as your friends up here in canada, you seem to be having an emotional breakdown." governor, do you sense that this is -- i mean, could we kind of get our act together in the next -- in between now and 2012 or is this just going to be partisan bickering until someone is installed in the -- >> i think our real chance to get our act together is in 2013 when we have to enact something along the lines of simpson boles, you've got to tweak it along the lines where you have to plan a ten-year significant investment in repairing our infrastructure.

those are the crucial things we've got to get done as a country. and i think we can in 2013. i want to go back to the february 29th for a minute. i think the point that you made is right on point. republicans have a deuce of a time because their way to pay for it is by freezing federal employees for five years. if i'm a democrat, i put an amendment to freeze congressional pay for five years, number one. number two, to cut back unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 59 weeks. those are things that hurt working people. they can't make that their waterloo. they can't make that where they make their stand or they're just playing the whole song all over again that got them in trouble. so we need a mature compromise. are they going to vote for the millionaires tax? no. they're not going to vote for it. we've got to find a mature compromise and get it done, get it done for the country. maybe that's the one thing we can do in this election year. >> it's interesting you talk about their position with regards to unemployment benefits and the working class because the republicans have proposed a few things to be attached to an

unemployment benefits extension, which is, well, they want to, a, reduce it from 99 to 59 weeks. they want to allow states to require drug testing. they want to search and enroll in ged programs. and they want toing forbid benefit cards from being used at liquor stores, casinos, and strip clubs, which on its surface you could argue for. but folks like the state of nevada representatives said part-time workers work in casinos. that's where there are atm machines. liquor stores have atm machines. >> the one thing in there if i were a democrat i would agree to is if your state can find you a job and you turn it down then you lose your unemployment benefits. that's fine. that's reasonable. the other stuff is just hooey. drug testing? >> the drug tests and the casinos is a nice sort of combination pack there in terms of like really aiming at you who want to have these benefits. >> i think it's aiming your gun squarely at -- it's a cultural indictment of the people who are

getting unemployment benefits. >> but that's maybe 1/10 of 1%. it's this idea that people on food stamps drive up in cadillacs. maybe 1 out of 100,000 do that. that's ridiculous. it's absolutely ridiculous. i ran one of the largest food stamp programs in the nation. and they're your neighbors, folks, on food stamps. do you know in pennsylvania now 1 out of every 10 people are on food stam snpz. >> 47 million americans. >> it's unbelievable. >> on the hill they call these message amendments. which you could call a lot of other things. what it basically means is this amendment is not really designed to perfect the bill, whatever it may be, it's designed to send a message. in this case you're hitting it on the head. the message is about kushlt'll division and stigmatizing people who need some help. and when real unemployment is at 16% and underemployment is higher than that, that's when americans need help. >> they're stigmatizing according to alex's figure, 12%, 14% of the american public. these are your neighbors on food

stamps. >> how is this a winning message? >> it's not. they're nuts. >> it's a base play. it's one that plays with a very narrow slice of the electorate. they may decide at this point looking at how badly how they got beaten over this during the holidays, do they look at these numbers and say okay, let's dial this back a little bit. there's going to be partisan warfare all year. i think the idea is we muddle through 2012, get to 2013 and then we deal with entitlements, then we deal with the bigger issues. there's going to be no major legislation coming out of this congress. >> except that the front-runner for the gop nomination at this point, mitt romney, has basically made -- is designing a campaign platform around entitlement spending. we will talk about that more later when we come back. some stories over the christmas holiday made me think it's time to talk about gun control in this country. that's coming up next on "now." [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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here are some headlines across the country over the holiday weekend. in colorado a 3-year-old picked up a gun owned by his visiting relative, shot and killed a 5-year-old in the apartment. in texas six people were shot to death in their home while opening their christmas gifts by a man wearing a santa suit. and in southern california a soldier who just returned from afghanistan was shot in the spine at his homecoming party while trying to break up a fight. he is paralyzed and in critical condition. i think all of these stories bring up the inevitable question, what are we doing about gun laws in this country? are they too porous? are they not strict enough? or is that all wrong and it's just these are random acts of violence? i think that it's important to note that you know, a "new york times" report on gun rights found that in north carolina 2,400 permit holders had felony or misdemeanor convictions in the last five years ten had committed murder or manslaughter, eight of those with a grngs 60 had committed weapon re weapon-related assaults.

i think there's a lot of questions here. one is do we do we not need stricter gun control laws in this country? do we need to revisit how we issue permits amidst a big push to get -- to allow folks to carry concealed weapons across state lines? >> i'd say from these headlines it's pretty clear that we do. although the nra would argue would stricter gun laws have prevented these individual incidents? maybe, maybe not. but the question is in political terms the gun issue is so polarized, every time you bring up even the idea of stricter gun control laws there's a certain segment of the electorate that goes absolutely nuts and says you're trying to take my gun away, they'll light up the e-mail, the twitter, everything. the debate about it seems to be so polarized when governor rendell, i won't steal his point, but -- >> no, say it. >> -- he made the very important point that in pennsylvania a lot of people support guns but they also support gun control laws. they're not mutually exclusive. you can support the right to have a gun and vo it in your house in a locked box with all the guidelines that go with that and support reasonable gun control that when done right will hopefully prevent some of

these incredibly awful and depressing events. the debate is too polarized when actually i think the general public is less polarized and supports more gun control. >> why is that majority or whatever they are not more vocal in saying we own guns and we want stricter laws -- >> it's interesting. i'm writing a book that's coming out in april. and i talk about that. i think we respond, we politicians respond to the people who call in & write. and the nra can get 1,000 letters in to every congressman, every representative, every state representative's office. the ordinary people, that's not our single issue. so we don't write. we don't call. i'll give you an example. i think part of it's leadership. you know i'm a supporter of the president, unabashed supporter of the president. but the night of the state of the union address, it was ten days after gaby giffords was shot. >> right. >> he brings in the intern who saved gaby's life, seats him next to michelle. he brings in the family of that little 9-year-old girl who wanted to see her congresswoman and got shot and killed.

and then he doesn't mention gun control. the american people were ready. you say does it make a difference? well, sure. if we limited magazines to 11 shots, that assailant wouldn't have been able to kill and injury dozens of people that he did because that's common sense. the american people support that. the president should have called for it. people want strong leaders. and we're afraid of the gun lobby. and we're all terrorized by it. democrats as well. nobody wants to touch it. everyone says, well, the clinton congress lost because of the assault weapons ban. baloney. >> and to that point, governor, the policy landscape here keeps shifting. right? the assault weapons ban was passed, but it had a ten-year expiration. it has expired and not been renewed. the supreme court has ruled for the first time in american history that you have an individual, not a collective right to own a gun. what that ought to do, i think, is give an argument to people who are worried about having their guns taken away saying no, we have something stronger than what any congress can do, we now

have a precedent, should people may disagree with it, though, that says you have a right to your gun. so when we go legislating on very reasonable things, like locks, like voter i.d. -- excuse me, identification checks, magazine limits, we're not going to take away your gun because you have a precedent. >> but it just seems that any effort to curb any part of any gun ownership, whether that's magazines or whether you can carry them across state lines, you know -- >> because it's also over in a way. i mean, i feel like the nra is perhaps the most powerful and most well-funded organized lobby in the history of the nation if we're just going to go ahead and say -- >> but we're scared of them. >> of course we are. but it's like global warming. it's this big awful scary problem and it's almost impossible to approach. and that's the ugly part of it. i'm not saying you should give up. >> but it's a cultural -- >> there's a debate, not an issue. >> but even if you're a gun owner, a lot of gun owners, we're the second biggest gun-owning state in the union, pennsylvania, yet 70% of pennsylvanians support limiting the ability to purchasing handguns to one a month.

which would have a dramatic impact in pennsylvania. one handgun a month. that's 12 a year. who needs more than 12 handguns a year? yet that's the way straw purchasers get their guns they sell on the streets to felons and juveniles who can't get guns any other way. have some guts. every elected politician knows we should do something about gun control, but they're all scared. we've become a nation of wusses. >> wusses with guns who apparently -- >> but our elected officials are wusses. >> governor, we talked a little bit about this in the break. what does it say culturally about the country that i think it's 47% of adults in the u.s. report a gun in their household or on their property, which is the highest rate since 1993. you look at the gun ownership trend lines. in times of economic duress people own more firearms, and i think it says something about where the country is now that there's a sense of i want to take care of it, i want to be protected. there's a lack of trust in perhaps institutions, whether it's law enforcement or -- >> you can't be too overly dramatic in drawing that

conclusion. pennsylvania most of the people who own guns own they will to hunt. we're a huge hunting state. on the monday after thanksgiving schools are closed in most school districts in pennsylvania. why? first day of deer hunting season. first day of deer hunting season. that's why most pennsylvanians have guns. >> but 47% of the country is not hunting. i just think that that's 1 in every 2 americans basically. >> a lot more than you think, number one. and number two, yeah, people have a gun because they want to protect themselves, but that surely doesn't mean that they want guns in the hands of criminals and drug dealers. >> but to your -- sorry. >> i was going to say it sounds like to governor rendell's point this is an issue of communication and communication to voters and to gun owners that hunt all you want, you know, keep your rifles, keep your guns that you use for sport, we're not coming after them. as you've stated, there is now this right to an individual ownership of guns. if some politician could step up and make that case, that we are pro gun, we are for your right to own a gun, because the american people obviously enjoy their guns, but we need to have

these common sense rules in place to protect people from gun violence. and it would seem to me that some politician should be able to make that case. but i have not heard it. >> common sense and leadership. ben white on the record. when we come back, we will ask what now. and we will talk about new voter i.d. laws taking effect in the new year. that's next on "now." >> i'm chris cillizza in for andrea mitchell. coming up on "andrea mitchell reports," caucus countdown. with just one week to go before the crucial vote, we'll talk to the romney and gingrich campaigns. and could ron paul really pull out a win in the hawkeye state? plus, foreclosure fallout. why big city budgets are now feeling the pain from the housing crisis. and special election. we'll tell you why one congressional race could be the clue to who wins the white house. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop.

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welcome back. it's time for "what now." the department of justice is blocking south carolina's voter

i.d. law just as similar laws are about to take effect in four other states. this seems to be the chickens coming home to roost with us. there's been a lot of talk about how potentially discriminatory these voter i.d. laws are. eric holder has gone out and now it's official the administration is going to take a position on this and try to stop these laws from being enacted. do you guys think this is a winning battle for democrats? >> i do. and i think sloane mentioned earlier about how climate change has become one of those issues you can't debate. this is getting to be like that unfortunately. if you look at the facts i think it's clear, as we discussed on this show, there's not a big problem with people creating like fake i.d.s to vote or voting under mickey mouse. it's not a major problem, and there's evidence on that. however, we have this effort to what i think is ultimately disenfranchise people. if you know that, you think it's a bad idea. if you don't know that, then you don't know what you're talking about. >> good for the justice department. these laws are shameful. >> and eric holder has taken a rather strong stance on this and a few others, which we will all be discussing later on in the week. i want to move on to this.

nearly 7 in 10 americans think they're better off than their parents were at the same age, which is contradictory to this sense of gloom and doom, is it not, sloane? >> no, it's completely contradictory to it, but at the same time i think they're not necessarily more secure. i think feeling like you're better off is a different animal than feeling like you know when your next paycheck is coming. it's just a different industry they're entering into. >> it's also a difference between what you think you're doing and what you're actually doing. people tend to be optimistic and think they're doing better than their parents financially. i think the data doesn't actually support that. but as long as people are happy -- >> the delusional youth of america. >> how it's defined financially. but there's also a sense of are you doing better in your life in general? maybe you're not doing better but you're happier than your parents were at this point. >> the prescriptions are really working for you. >> well medicated. >> less processed foods. >> michele bachmann was heckled by a gay robot last thursday in iowa city. i think we have some of the sound from that. it's pretty choice.

>> michele bachmann, i am a gay robot. do you support rights for gay robots? i was programmed to do this. i cannot help myself. i am gay. >> get in your closet. >> now, the thing about this, there's a lot to unpack here in a short time. but michele bachmann has gotten not attacked, but she has been heckled in a way by i think gay rights groups or, you know, individuals in a way that a lot of the other candidates who have pretty extreme positions have not, and i wonder what you guys think it is that makes michele bachmann so special. ari, you have a huge grin on her face. >> well, first of all, i heard that she asked if the robot was born that way and couldn't get an answer on that. >> had to get a lady gaga reference in. >> but i think there is something a little goofy, an element of self-parody about her which makes her ripe for these attacks. i think it's a really interesting form of activism.

it's getting attention which is what it's designed to do. and a lot of people don't know that gay robots were a huge issue in governor rendell's re-election. huge deal in pennsylvania. >> we can't get governor rendell to tell us about that gay robot story, but we hope he'll join us again sometime soon. thanks again, ari, governor rendell, sloane and sxwerngs also to robert traynham. that is all for now. i will see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, but until then you can follow us on twitter @nowwithalex. chris cillizza is in for andrea. hello, chris, i hope you had a restful and pleasurable holiday weekend. >> if you count spending 9 1/2 hours on the new jersey turnpike restful, then yes, i did, alex. >> i do, chris. traffic is fun. >> spending a lot of time listening to msnbc on sirius satellite radio. >> nice plug. >> thank you. up next on "andrea mitchell reports," the candidates are shaking hands, kissing babies, and blanketing the airwaves. we're live in des moines with the latest on the gop ground game. and what, if anything, can romney's rivals do to stop his momentum? plus, the economy is on an

upswing, and so are the president's poll numbers. but can it hold? "andrea mitchell reports" is up next. it's a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. my inspiration for quitting were my sons. they were my little cheering squad. [ laughs ]

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," we're in the home stretch to the iowa caucuses, and everything appears to be coming up roses for romney. >> couple of weeks ago i was a distant third in iowa, and you just don't foe whatknow what's happen in this process. >> but could ron paul pull out a win? the editor of the "des moines register" will join us in this hour. no more mr. nice newt. gingrich sends out his first e-mail attack on mitt romney. ahead we'll talk to both the romney and gingrich campaigns. and happy holidays, president obama. a new poll shows his approval rating in positive territory for the first time since july. plus, foreclosure fallout. the housing crisis is now putting the squeeze on an already strapped city budgets. good day. i'm chris cillizza.